
Anonymous
Years ago
2016 Olympics Women
Who will be the womens team? Who will the young ones be? Will Blicavs make it? Thompson ever? Talbot?
Anonymous
Years ago
Who will be the womens team? Who will the young ones be? Will Blicavs make it? Thompson ever? Talbot?
albatross
Years ago
Well the first lot pick themselves - LJ penny Liz Belinda Jenna Rachel Suzy Erin .........
Will Thompson ever make an Olympic team? Is she up to that standard? Wilson would still have a way to go.
2016 Rio, All these players will be the right age and could be in contention.
Liz, Ohea, Jarry, Blicavs, Kunek, Cunningham, Madgen, Ebzery, Langford, Cumming, Thompson, Mjovic, Phillips.... Could be a few more. We will have a decent team as long as we have a PG who can play at the world level.
Will jackson, taylor, batkovic, snell go around again?
but are they all good enough? will they still be better than the younger ones? surely not screen again?
I think Thompson will need to prove herself at the tournament in china and WNBL, it's a wait and see game. She has the skills but never been a team player, so if she can get that under control the world is at her feet.
LJ will be 35 remains to be seen if she will play on
Dunkin' Dan
Years ago
LJ at 35, if healthy, will still shit on whoever our next-best PF is.
There are certainly spots available for younger players though, pretty much everywhere. In fact the 1 & 2 spots are begging for someone to step up and claim them.
Thompson is a nice prospect and although the Opals selectors are traditionally very conservative with young players, 2016 is still a while off and I'm optimistic that J0yce will be dispensing with whatever the hell Graf's selection criteria were.
Hopefully Pennaluna can play injury free for a while and find some form, she is one player that has not lived up to expectation yet. Screen and Snell should be finished with the Opals hopefully. Allen and Burston could also have a shot at the Olympic team.
Will be interesting to see what impact Pennaluna has going forward an article last week said she had to have further surgery on her knee.
She has only managed to play 1 game for Bendigo so far this SEABL season (a couple of weeks ago) and was on court for less than 16 minutes,. She didn't back up the next day which isn't surprising, but then had to have surgery the next week.
As promising as her career was before the knee injury, would have to think that right now she is some way off playing for the Opals if she can't get her knee right and even get on court to play in the first place. Wishing her the best in her recovery, but with the news from Bendigo throughout this season being that she was a week or 2 away since round 1 but to keep dragging on, you wonder if she will ever return to her pre-injury form.
Anon
Years ago
IMO - the old guard should stay on - LJ and Penny. Think with Liz, Ohea - just need to find a tru Point. Macloed, Hurst and Phillips back up are the pick of the bunch as long as they can stay healthy. Screen,Snell and Hodges will probably be past it (Great service). Not sold on Jarry either - needs to show more (horrid WNBL season). Good size to choose from - Tolo, Bishop, Francis - think suzy will struggle! Like look of Blicavs, Kuneck as athletes. Need to find shooting guard?? Cunningham lack of D will get exposed!Joyce has some work to do!
If Madgen can fix her shot she is the perfect SG.
Phillips is already a great SG too, what the Opals need is a good young PG.
Anonymous
Years ago
Any young point guards in the WNBL coming through that could be ready by that stage?
Probably only Madgen and she is more of a natural SG. Im happy if Bulleen keep playing her as a PG, just in case the Olympics come around and we have no better option.
No way Magden is a PG,Rebecca Cole if she can get her knee right is an option for the future.
Cunningham is a great versatile player, can play SG or SF. Im surprised no WNBA teams have looked at her yet because I think she still has improvement in her game.
Anon^^ Do you watch the WNBL? Madgen is a PG, well she was last season anyway, probably better as a SG but playing her as a PG will help her game greatly and she is still improving her ball handling skills so you or nobody else knows what she is capable of yet.
Dunkin' Dan
Years ago
Anon^^ Do you watch the WNBL? Madgen is not a PG.
She was forced to play there due to injuries and lack of other options, and I don't think it hurt her game to develop those skills, but it was pretty clear that she does not have the mindset for an international PG. She is at her best when attacking and looking to score, and last season was not a great one for her personally or her team.
Her future is as a SG and it's a bright future if she can deliver on her considerable potential.
It was her first season playing the point and in some games she had good numbers, both in assists and points.
Dunkin' Dan
Years ago
And in some games she had good numbers in rebounds too. That doesn't mean she should play the 4 spot.
She did an admirable job filling in. No doubt. I'm a big fan of hers and I followed her performances closely. But it's a totally different mindset being a distributor compared to being a primary scorer, and the latter suits her much better. Playing the point and stifling her attacking instincts compromises one of her best attributes IMO.
Sure, our PG stocks are in seriously bad shape so it's something that could be legitimately looked at - except - our SG stocks are in equally poor shape, so surely we go with the natural fit. Australia is in desperate need of perimeter scorers, and she is a very good one so let's make the most of it.
That's my take anyway, for what that's worth.
Madgen is a top SG in the WNBL, against the USA her height and speed are nullified and I doubt she would be an effective scorer given her shot is inconsistent. I like her at the PG - again her height becomes an asset at both ends and she can score against the shorter type player.
Whatever the situation I think Madgen provides the coach options much like Penny Taylor used to be able to play the 1,2,3 and 4 spot if necessary.
ivar biggen
Years ago
I watched Bulleen tryouts the other night at the timeframe you could find Nicole Romeo running the point!!
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